Category: Spending

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the President signs the fiscal year (FY) 2018 Defense Appropriations Act conference report, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has uncovered642 earmarks totaling $29.8 billion (click here to see the full list) that were not requested by the Pentagon and inserted by members of Congress. That is a 58 percent increase in the 406 projects requested in FY 2017 and a 105 percent increase in total dollars from FY 2017.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) slammed congressional leaders in the House and Senate for offering a $1.3 trillion Omnibus spending bill, setting the stage for a trillion-dollar deficit this year. TPA President David Williams sounded off on the details of the legislation released this evening.

To listen to some environmental advocates, electric vehicles (EVs) are a panacea for America’s outdated, “dirty” transportation sector. After a decade of sluggish uptake by U.S. customers, a variety of organizations and businesses are making bold predictions about the future of EVs. Edison Electric Institute projects that U.S. EV penetration will reach 7 percent by 2025 and grow by leaps and bounds thereafter. A Bloomberg New Energy Finance report released last year finds that electric vehicles will comprise 15 percent of American cars by 2035. » Read More

This article originally appeared in The American Conservative on March 14, 2018

As the recent spending debate in Congress made clear, the Pentagon isn’t exactly starved for cash. The latest budget agreement, reached by lawmakers back in February, blew the lid off of Budget Control Act spending caps, increasing funds to the Pentagon by 15 percent over the next two years. Of the requested $686 billion for the Department of Defense, $194 billion is slated for the Department of the Navy. In fact, the 2019 Navy budget is an astounding 18 percent higher than the 2017 levels, despite diminishing conflicts around the globe. Why a peacetime Navy demands a budget fit for the Cold War and Iraq War is a mystery. Even reliable defense hawks have begun questioning Navy spending in recent years.

When a massive undertaking goes awry, there comes a point where “let it be” trumps “let’s dig deeper.” Washington, D.C. local officials are inclined toward the latter, particularly when it comes to mass transit. The D.C. Streetcar is a sad monument to fiscal mismanagement, in a city already plagued by education scandals and corrupt governance. At a cost of nearly $100 million per mile and initial building delays spanning seven years for the 2.2 mile boondoggle, District and federal taxpayers have every right to demand better uses of their money. Unfortunately, it’s likely to only get worse. » Read More

This article originally appeared in the American Spectator on February 28, 2018

The Pentagon is a massive black hole of dubious spending, and its annual final budget never tells the entire story. Case in point: the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) fund is just one of the ways the military spends our money above and beyond their annual outlays. Supposedly, the OCO will be reduced significantly over the course of the next two years. But before you think the government is reining in spending, think again. » Read More

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló has long blamed his predecessors and those in Washington – namely Republicans including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) – for his woes. Rosselló has called the ground-breaking Tax Cuts and Jobs Act a setback for the island. The governor has also criticized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, despite their efforts to rebuild the power utility long-neglected by a long line of Puerto Rico leaders. While many things about Puerto Rico’s governance remain opaque, one thing is quite clear: Gov. Rosselló will stop at nothing to blame everyone else for his own failings. By blaming others and feigning helplessness in the face of challenge after challenge, Gov. Rosselló hopes to secure a heavily subsidized or free loan via the Trump Administration.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) slammed congressional leaders for agreeing to lift budget caps by $300 billion over the next two years. Politico reported that, “Congressional leaders have clinched a two-year deal to lift strict budget caps on defense and domestic spending, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Wednesday afternoon. The deal is expected to increase defense and domestic spending by roughly $300 billion over two years, according to administration and congressional sources.”» Read More

Today, TPA joined together with 22 free market groups led by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) to send a letter to Congress asking lawmakers to stop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) rule against short-term “payday” loans. The rule also deprives citizens and lawmakers in every state from deciding for themselves how to regulate small dollar loans and fails to take into consideration the impact the rule will have on small businesses, the letter explains. Time is running out for Congress to disapprove the rule using the Congressional Review Act, with an estimated deadline of March 5. The letter asks Congress to vote now on House Joint Resolution 122, introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) and co-sponsored by Reps. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Collin Peterson (D-MN), Steve Stivers (R-OH), and Tom Graves (R-GA).

Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) slammed President Trump and members of Congress who suggested bringing back legislative earmarks. Congress banned earmarks in 2011 after Republicans gained control of the House. Seven years later, with full control of the Legislative and Executive Branches the prospect of earmarks shouldn’t be an issue. Instead, the Administration and Congress are close to re-implementing a destructive policy that would proliferate waste in Washington. TPA President David Williams noted that, “Earmarking is an irresponsible way to allocate funds. In addition to the chaos it causes during the appropriations process, earmarks are behind some of the most wasteful programs and projects taxpayers have been bilked for over the years. Earmarks have served as the bribery currency of Congress for many years, as both parties used them to buy votes." » Read More

This article originally appeared in the Washington Examiner on December 16, 2017.

Here we go again. On the eve of the next Farm Bill reauthorization, Big Sugar corporations are up to their old tricks. To protect their government handouts, they are once again claiming that a so-called “zero-for-zero” resolution should come before Congress passes meaningful reform of the country’s harmful sugar policy. Large domestic manufacturers argue that, before subsidies and quotas are phased out, foreign governments must first stop bolstering their own producers.

This article originally appeared on InsideSources on December 19, 2017.

As any board member or financial officer will readily attest, budgeting is never a walk in the park. But federal lawmakers have it especially tough, managing a multi-trillion-dollar operation and navigating through countless competing interests. » Read More

It’s that time of year again! As the NFL embraces the harsh mistress of playoff season, some fans can’t help but to find strange parallels between the performance of their squad and the current Congress. Most franchises will inevitably go through a “rebuilding phase” after the bottom drops out, with uneven performances from rookies and lingering issues from the rank-and-file. Congress is similarly in rebuilding mode, correcting for the gargantuan missteps over the past decade with a mixture of Hail Mary’s and fruitless quarterback sneaks. » Read More

This article originally appeared in Real Clear Defense on November 7, 2017

The United States faces a grave and growing threat from North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. With North Korea conducting two ICBM tests in July of 2017, Kim Jong-Un is a pariah intent on putting the United States and allies on the defense. For the first time, North Korea has demonstrated the ballistic missile technology necessary to directly attack the U.S. homeland. And these developments are not unfolding in a vacuum. Ballistic missile threats from Russia and China are ever-present and rapidly evolving. However, these pressing issues are no excuse to hand the Department of Defense a blank check. Only a smart and nimble national defense will prove capable in diffusing these threats and protecting the country. Reforming the military’s purchasing protocol by instituting multi-year procurement can accomplish that goal. » Read More

Between Hurricane Irma’s path of destruction and the threat of future hurricanes, Puerto Rico stands in Mother Nature’s firing line. The House of Representatives, which passed a bill last week authorizing assistance for Hurricane Harvey, will likely open the spigot of taxpayer funds to Puerto Rico and other areas tormented by recent mega storms. While the federal government is right to come to the financial aid of the oft-forgotten part of the United States after disasters, Congress needs to be especially weary of financial mismanagement. In a place where fiscal dysfunction has already forced the federal government to intervene, adding fuel to the fire would make the lives of Puerto Ricans worse. And taxpayers deserve better than for their money to sink into a black hole of failed expectations. » Read More

TPA joined a coalition in writing a letter to congressional leadership. In the letter, we urged lawmakers not to back down from the fiscal priorities that they promised. A debt limit increase – which is effectively another broken promise – risks more frustration in the conservative movement with congressional Republicans at a time when it is critical to gain momentum to pass fundamental, pro-growth tax reform. » Read More

The $19.8 billion proposed by appropriators for NASA funding represents a $200 million increase from the year before. This is happening in the midst of large spending cuts to virtually all other federal programs and agencies. By constraining NASA’s mission and opening the door to private space exploration, lawmakers can be truly “pro-science” without bilking taxpayers. NASA has enjoyed “sacred cow” status in Washington for decades, despite problems in execution and priorities endemic to any other area of government. The New Horizons mission to Pluto was initially estimated to cost $650 million, but that figure crept up to $720 million by the end of the probe’s journey.

Congress has seen more than its fair share of Pentagon budget kurfluffles over the past decade, ranging from sequester showdowns to the dysfunctional (and expensive) F-35 program. But, members of Congress across the ideological spectrum can agree that the string of forlorn, nearly-vacant military bases across the nation ought to be shuttered or consolidated. Talk has increased of another round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), in which a commission studies military bases and recommends closures subject to congressional approval. The notion of taxpayers footing the bill for nearly-abandoned installations is an unpopular one, and for good reason. A letter signed by the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and 44 other groups across the political spectrum reinforced the bipartisan idea of closing more bases. » Read More

The iconic American company Boeing seems simultaneously to be for and against intervention. This spring Boeing’s former CEO and other U.S. business leaders convinced President Trump to give a new lease on life to the Export-Import Bank, a trade-distorting relic of crony capitalism’s heyday. Just weeks later, Boeing asserted the sanctity of fair trade in allegations about Bombardier, a Canadian aircraft company. The Export-Import Bank was on life support, but, in April, following a meeting with former Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, President Trump reversed himself and decided the Export-Import Bank should not be shut down after all. The Bank has supported major U.S. corporations for years with taxpayer dollars, with Boeing being its chief beneficiary. In 2014, before Congress moved to curtail its activities, the Bank provided long-term loan guarantees totaling $10.8 billion, of which $7.4 billion went to Boeing. All told, Boeing received about 40 percent of the Bank’s $20.5 billion in programs - hence the moniker “the Boeing Bank.”

With the unveiling of the President’s budget this week, detractors are already jumping to apocalyptic claims about the dismantling of the welfare state. To advocates of a perpetually-expanding welfare state, the budget is a senseless “assault on aid, [and] programs” and “dangerous, reckless and contemptuous of American values.” But in reality, the new Administration’s “skinny budget” is filled with encouraging proposals. Many federal programs do not operate as intended, yet are given a free pass year after year and shielded from scrutiny. The Administration attempts to address this problem by getting mammoth, unaccountable programs back on track, at a significant savings to taxpayers. All told, federal taxpayers can expect to save $3.6 trillion through 2027. In particular, Trump’s budget highlights 66 discretionary programs for termination that would save $26.7 billion. Not all items in the budget are laudable however; with every few steps forward comes one step back. And, with a budget deficit of $560 billion and a debt of $19.8 trillion, the country can’t afford to take any steps back.